Mooney's Andrew Armstrong dealing with diabetes

By JOE SCALZO

scalzo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A week before Christmas last year, Andrew Armstrong was given a gift. At least, that’s how he chose to see it.

After battling fatigue throughout football season and the first few weeks of basketball season, the Cardinal Mooney standout was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, the less common — and more demanding — form of the disease.

“I looked at it from the start as a positive thing, rather than a negative,” he said. “Last year during the season, I would get winded real easy and I didn’t know why. I did everything I could before the game, eating right, drinking right. I just didn’t know.

“Now I feel a lot better. I feel healthier and throughout conditioning, I’ve felt great. It’s been going really well.”

Type 1 diabetes — once known as juvenile diabetes because it usually afflicts kids and young adults — is an autoimmune disease where your pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that converts sugars and starches into energy. Without insulin, too much glucose (i.e. sugar) stays in your blood, which can leave you feeling fatigued, hungry, thirsty and irritable. There is no cure, but the disease can be managed by checking your blood sugar, taking insulin, exercising and eating healthy.

Only five percent of people with diabetes have Type 1.

Armstrong has learned to manage the disease, checking his blood sugar five or six times a day. If it’s low, he usually just needs to drink a Gatorade and he’s fine. The approach allowed him to finish basketball season, then play baseball in the spring (with Mooney) and summer (with Roth Brothers of Class B).

During football season, when starts at tight end and safety, he plans to check his blood sugar before games and after each quarter.

“My teammates are always badgering me to check it,” he said. “They’re like, ‘You all right? You need a Gatorade?’ So that’s going real well.”

It also helps that Mooney football coach P.J. Fecko is familiar with Armstrong’s situation. Fecko’s 13-year-old daughter, Lia, also has Type 1 diabetes, yet still plays sports and competes in dance and gymnastics.

“Obviously having dealt with it years before he has, I have a full understanding of how it works, what the effects are physically and mentally, for that matter,” Fecko said. “I think he has done a great job with it in his other sports seasons, and so far through this season I’ve seen no issues with it. He’s on top of everything and handling it.

“One thing about it is, in our life, there’s definitely a sense of normalcy. Obviously it’s not completely normal with the insulin and giving yourself injections and all those things, but the day-to-day life is pretty normal. Most people off the street wouldn’t notice.”

So far, there has been one major adjustment.

“I’ve had to mostly give up sweets,” Armstrong said. “I miss cheesecake and pies and all that. I don’t miss it too much but once in a while I’ll get a craving.”

Does he ever cheat?

“I’ll get ice cream with my buddies,” he said, grinning. “I just have to take shots of insulin before. I just try to lay off the really unhealthy stuff, like the stuff loaded with carbs.”

While exercise is a key part of managing Type 1 diabetes, it would be easy for Armstrong to give up a demanding sport like football. Adrenaline can cause your blood sugar levels to spike and if there’s one thing football thrives on, it’s adrenaline.

“He’ll need to watch that he doesn’t bottom out,” Fecko said. “It’s a tricky balance, trying to keep that [glucose] level somewhere around 100 [milligrams per deciliter] and anticipate what’s coming down the road.

“He’s been able to handle it all through his other sports seasons, so there’s a sense of normalcy. I think everyone treats him like they did last year, before everyone knew.”

Several football players have successfully dealt with the disease, including Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and, closer to home, former Ursuline running back Terrence Graves, and Armstrong doesn’t plan to stop playing anytime soon. He’s already verbally committed to Bowling Green, where the Falcons’ defensive coordinator, Brian Ward, also a daughter with Type 1 diabetes.

“He knows all about that, so that was a big factor,” said Armstrong (6-2, 215), who also had offers from Colgate, Robert Morris, Bucknell and Holy Cross. “The coaches, that’s what really influenced me to go there. I love the campus, it’s close to home — only 2 1/2 hours away — so my family can come see me play, it has good academics and good facilities. I’m excited to get up there.”

Until then, he’s excited about the Cardinals’ potential this fall.

“We’re really excited about this year’s team,” he said. “Each one of us, the seniors on this year’s team, are really good leaders and we feel like we have a special thing this year where we feel like we could go undefeated and win the state championship.”